Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Notes of ripe and mellow raspberries and cherries with orange peel, cocoa and dried herbs. Medium- to full-bodied. Round and silky with a plush, red-fruited palate. Delicious. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Very pure, with a beam of mulberry puree spilling through, flanked by subtle red tea, apple wood and incense. The finish has a nicely inlaid spine, giving this focus and length. Drink now through 2030. 485 cases made.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Cattleya Cuvée Number One Pinot Noir is bright and alive on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of pomegranate, red berries, and chalky notes. Enjoy its brightness with grilled salmon steaks. (Tasted: May 8, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Matured for 11 months in 55% new French oak, the 2021 Pinot Noir Cuvée Number One is scented of rhubarb, blueberry, bergamot and mossy bark. The light-bodied palate is chalky and mouthwatering with crunchy fruit and a long, perfumed finish.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Situated on the foggier and colder western edge of the Russian River Valley, almost abutting the Sonoma Coast appellation, Green Valley is one of California’s most reputable Chardonnay and Pinot noir producing regions. It is also a wonderful source of sparkling wines made from these varieties.
Goldridge soils abound throughout the Green Valley appellation. This fine, dark, sandy loam and fractured sandstone is derived from the remains of ancient inland seabeds dating back three to five million years. It is valuable for high quality grape growing because of its excellent drainage and low fertility.